I'm not motivated

Tonight's topic is on motivation. It is tough many days to stay motivated. It is even tougher to stay motivated when you are a small business owner. There will be days for all of us when we don't want to get up out of bed. You just don't feel motivated to do anything. We all experience that lack of motivation, but, if you are doing what you love, those non-motivated moments will be few and very far between.

For those of us who may be MOSTLY doing what we love, there are days or parts of the day when you just look around and realize, "I'm not motivated to do ANYTHING". This may become especially apparent on days that you may have been running around like crazy, had tons of things go wrong, or just had no sleep the night before. Then the tasks that are yet to be done seem insurmountable and you lack the proper motivation to tackle those jobs.

We are going to review a few tips that might help generate those motivational juices when you encounter those low motivational times. When you are motivated, you feel like everything is in balance, you can climb any mountain, and no problem is an obstacle. The key here is to recapture that feeling so you can get the work done that needs to get done...even if you are a procrastinator...

Have you noticed on days or hours within the day when you are feeling particularly unmotivated, that you are also not feeling particularly happy? I do not know of a single day when I was happy and laughing that I was not motivated to accomplish tasks. But I can easily remember my non-motivated days usually because I was not in one of my more light-hearted moments. So, if you are not feeling any motivation to do squat, take some time out of your day and find something to do that will make you laugh. It is amazing how much more you can get done, and how much smaller problems become after you have had a good laugh. I look for comics, (which may not work all the time), funny TV shows (if you are not at work) or look for something to laugh at (hopefully not a co-worker...that may not help either of you in the long run...). Laughing relieves stress and allows the blood to start flowing freely through your body again. When you laugh, you are forced to take deeper breaths and if you breath deeply, you will also find your tension levels will decrease.

Laughing has been attributed to increased health, less wrinkled faces (in my humble opinion) and an overall better attitude. Granted there are days when you really don't feel like laughing, but those are the days where it is most important to find something to laugh at or with. Find a funny movie, have on-hand a book of silly jokes or go to a pet store and watch puppies play. There is always something that you can look at that should lighten your mood and at least make you smile for a few minutes. Make a list of things that make you laugh, keep it close for those days when you can't find it in yourself to laugh. This will help with motivation.

Along the lines of keeping a list of things (or stories) that make you laugh, you may also want to keep a log of the times you overcame obstacles or had major breakthroughs. Think back on times when you overcame problems that at the time you believed could not be beat. Remember how good you felt when you beat the problem, or won the game they said you couldn't win? Keeping a log of those can be very motivating. You may even find a situation that you had been in some time in the past that is very similar to your current situation. That in itself is very motivating because you now have written proof that you overcame the obstacle before, so obviously you can do it again. Also, by reading all the times you had breakthroughs, it makes you feel better, knowing that you are very capable of beating the odds. The log of all your successes will help keep you motivated, especially if you have just been dealt a blow.

No matter how bad things may appear at the time, remember there will always be failures. The trick is to be able to pick yourself up, dust yourself off and to keep on going. Sometimes I have found the biggest demotivator is my fear of failing. Once I have dealt with the fear, I am no longer worried about what will happen and I have the energy and drive to get the project done. Even if your project died, at least you are done with it and can move onto the next task at hand. Do not wallow in the failures, don't keep a log of them, but if you end up overcoming a failure and becoming wildly successful, then that is something you will keep in your log-book. It is sometimes through failure that you really succeed. If you did your best, performed your best to the absolute best of your abilities, then be happy with that, even if you did fail at the particular task. Heck, I know I will never, ever play golf like Tiger Woods, but that won't stop me from playing Golf... Be happy doing the best you can with what you have. Beyond that, don't worry about it.

If you are currently in a situation you do not like to be in, if you do not like the job you are currently working at, perhaps now is the time to look into a second income stream. Do not quit your current paying job for a second income stream, but if you begin working an additional income, you may become more motivated at your current job. That motivation could be due to the knowledge that you are doing something proactive about your current work situation. Being proactive can also provide a very motivating feeling. So, on those days when you just don't feel motivated, look for something that will make you laugh (or at least smile) or look to your list of breakthroughs and remember that feeling of success.

Until tomorrow...